THE driver of a Mercedes which ploughed into a parked car at speed and damaged seven others in a horror crash is lucky to be alive, according to firefighters.

A black Mercedes CLS 600 crashed into the vehicles in Bury and Bolton Road, Bradley Fold, near to timber merchants Travis Perkins, at about 11pm on Friday.

The male driver, aged 28, amazingly escaped with only abdominal pains and bruising, thought to have been caused by the airbag going off.

It is believed he may have blacked out at the wheel but he was able to walk from the car and was taken to hospital for checks. 

Six of the damaged cars belonged to the Lancashire Transmissions garage, and one was owned by a neighbour.

Pictures from the scene show twisted metal and debris across the road, highlighting the scale of the damage.

The Mercedes initially crashed into a silver Mercedes, causing a domino effect.

The silver Mercedes then smashed into a Land Rover Freelander owned by the neighbour, and then into a Ford Focus which went into a Citroen Berlingo van.

The van was shunted about 10 yards by the force of the impact, and hit a Ford Connect van and a VW Polo.

Three of the cars were owned by customers of the garage, who had left their cars for repair work.
Andrew Axford, the owner of the garage, said his yard was a scene of devastation.

He said: “It is unbelievable that the driver got out relatively unhurt. There was a car aerial and a first-aid kit from the cars which landed near to the garage.

“He must have been going at some speed to cause this amount of damage.”

The owner of the Land Rover, who asked not to be named, said: “I was watching TV and initially I thought it was a lorry mounting the kerb, but then I saw all the lights flashing in no time.

“It is devastating, the amount of paperwork which we will have to do now, our car is written off. 
"It’s just lucky the driver wasn’t killed.”

Investigators were left puzzled about how the driver came to crash into the vehicle, with no visible skid marks on the road.

A police spokesman said no arrests were made, and the Mercedes thought to have tested negative when breathalysed by officers.

Watch manager Neil Mercer, at Bolton North station, said he suspected the driver of the car could have passed out at the wheel. 

He said: “The car was coming from Bury towards Bolton, and we don’t know why, but he has hit a parked car at high speed.

We don’t know whether he passed out at the wheel, but he must have been going at some speed.
“He was very lucky to escape alive and with such minor injuries.”

Bury and Bolton Road was closed for about two hours while the emergency services dealt with the incident.